Are We There Yet? How Humans Find Their Way
Are We There Yet? How Humans Find Their Way
One group of people that doesn’t worry about getting lost are the taxi drivers of London, England. In fact, studies show that these drivers have a superior sense of direction. That’s likely because they have to spend up to four years training to get a license to drive a taxi. During that time they must memorize about 25,000 streets and 320 routes in London, as well as thousands of tourist attractions around the city. Then they take an intense text called The Knowledge, which they have to pass in order to snag their license.
Neuroscientists conducted studies of these cab drivers and found that they had better memory than the average person. The experts even examined the brains of some cabbies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a procedure that produces detailed images of the brain. And they discovered that each taxi driver had an enlarged hippocampus. According to the experts, the cabbies had used their navigational skills so much that it caused a part of their brains to grow over time! And that helped their stellar memory.
With its conversational tone, Are We There Yet? draws readers into a fascinating look at the ways in which humans have travelled throughout history and provides a glimpse into the future of travel. Though the book cannot possibly list every mode of transportation, it highlights the major achievements and innovations in land, sea and air travel and beyond to outer space. The main body of the text is supplemented with “You Are Here” and “Right This Way” text boxes as well as detailed timelines.
The book consists of six chapters, the first of which focuses on how the human brain works to create a mental map in order for a person to get from place to place. Early peoples navigated by nature, using the stars, animal signs, sand dunes and even songlines to help them find their way. Today, many people rely on GPS to guide them to their destination, but the author cautions them that GPS can sometimes be flawed, and the idea that someday humans might have a tiny GPS chip implanted under their skin raises privacy issues.
In the second chapter, readers will learn about the earliest forms of maps, from clay tablets and paper to maps on wooden blocks and silk fabric, and other navigational tools, such as milestones along Roman roads, inukshuks and Polynesian stick charts made from coconut fibres and shells for ocean travel. This chapter also explains the many reasons for human migration, some examples of which are war, food scarcity and climate change, and how the invention of the compass and the printing press impacted travel.
The third chapter discusses rail and vehicular transportation and offers examples of different types of maps: transit routes, mall directories, celestial and ocean floor maps, and even the video game Minecraft which might be familiar to readers. Interesting to note is that researchers who study the night sky have been able to map 7.5 million galaxies so far. Once again, there is reference to GPS which relies on 30 satellites for information. Digital maps, uploaded in real time, can alert motorists to construction zones and car accidents so that they can find alternate routes.
Chapter Four begins with a brief evolution of water transport and also features some of the animals that have helped humans to travel in various parts of the world. In this chapter, the focus is on the invention of the wheel and how it revolutionized travel, with everything from bicycles to cars, subways and road systems.
Air travel is the main focus of Chapter Five, from the invention of hot air balloons to the Wright brothers’ first flight and the development of the jumbo jet and rockets. Here, readers are warned of the negative impact of both jet travel and space tourism on the environment. (It is estimated that there are 30,000 pieces of space junk in orbit which not only cause pollution but also can be dangerous.) A unique concept mentioned in this chapter is what could be the next hot trend – underwater experiences to visit reefs and deep-sea sites, and underwater hotels and restaurants, some of which exist today.
Lastly, the final chapter examines the future of travel. Here, readers will earn about self-driving cars, cars that might “fly” someday, the Hyperloop (a speedy train that travels inside a tube), airplanes designed to use much less fuel, a space elevator and the Oceanbird which will be the largest wind-powered sailing vessel in the world, designed to reduce both air and sound pollution.
As mentioned previously, the author cannot discuss every single mode of transportation in a book of this length. However, she does a very good job of selecting the highlights in all aspects of travel and provides interesting facts in the text boxes. She also encourages readers to hone their map-reading skills (after all, technology is not foolproof, and too much reliance on GPS can shrink the brain’s hippocampus) and to weigh the pros and cons of some modes of transportation in terms of their environmental impact.
The layout of Are We There Yet? How Humans Find Their Way is fairly attractive. Illustrations consist of colour photographs, maps, timelines and cartoon-like drawings. A table of contents, a glossary, an index and a list of print and online resources are included.
Gail Hamilton is a former teacher-librarian in Winnipeg, Manitoba.